Hot Stove thoughts: Furcal a sensible target for Giants

I’m a thousand miles from the GM meetings in Orange County (and a little further away, politically speaking). But while I watch the steady rain fall here in Eugene, a few thoughts on the Giants’ early offseason posturing:

–Biggest news so far: The Giants are among the teams that have expressed interest in Rafael Furcal, the shortstop’s agent told the LA Times. Furcal is seking at least a four-year deal, and while the Dodgers want him back, they are leery of committing long-term to a player who had midseason back surgery.

If healthy, Furcal is an impact performer who would give the Giants a legitimate leadoff hitting threat and a veteran presence at shortstop. That would be significant for two reasons. 1) The Giants could move Fred Lewis into a run-producing slot, where they believe he would have his greatest value as an offensive player. 2) Their middle infield situation would go from sketchy to solid.

While Giants officials like Emmanuel Burriss at shortstop, you know Brian Sabean’s M.O. as well as I do. On some level, club officials must be planning for the possibility that Burriss will fall on his face when handed the job. (Something like this.) With Furcal, the Giants could easily slide Burriss over to second base, where he would be a premier defender. Burriss and Kevin Frandsen would push each other for playing time, with Frandsen getting more at-bats against left-handers. And maybe, eventually, the best player rises to the top.

–The Giants have been linked to White Sox free-agent infielder Juan Uribe. I’d be surprised if they were pursuing Uribe as an everyday third baseman, even though that is their most glaring hole. The Giants certainly aren’t keen on overpaying for someone like Joe Crede, though. And by the way, agent Scott Boras is already pumping up Crede’s value, comparing the third baseman to creaky Magglio Ordonez before he negotiated his deal with the Tigers. Riiiiiight.

–Don’t bet on Pat Burrell coming home. The Bellarmine Prep graduate is a free agent after helping the Philadelphia Phillies to a World Series title. He has told friends that playing for the Giants would be a dream come true. Because he is a right-handed pull hitter, his home run power would translate better to AT&T Park than most other available sluggers. But Burrell doesn’t match the Giants’ goals to be younger and more athletic. Club officials have told me that Burrell isn’t a name at the top of their list, but they will probably check in with his agent — as they do with most players on the market — while doing due diligence.

–Another Phillie name with local ties: Alameda’s Jimmy Rollins. There have been rumors that Philadelphia will listen to offers for the 2007 MVP. Even if true, the price would be prohibitively high. He’d look great in a Giants uniform, but I don’t see him being a realistic target for them.

–Left-hander Scott Eyre wanted to re-sign with the Giants the last time he was a free agent, but the Cubs flashed more cash. I’m sure the Giants will take another run at him. But Eyre loved pitching for the Phillies and his home is close to the club’s spring training complex in Clearwater, Fla.

–Expect the usual round of Bengie Molina trade rumors, but take them with a grain of salt. None of them have had any substance over the past two seasons.

–One name that I expect to be discussed on some level: Aaron Rowand. A number of teams, including the Yankees and White Sox, would be interested. And it’s reasonable to believe the Giants could get a trade partner to take a major share of Rowand’s hefty contract — especially after the Brewers surprisingly picked up Mike Cameron’s $10 million option, reinforcing the market for center fielders.

Why trade Rowand? Well, assuming Lewis is fully recovered from foot surgery, the Giants will have a logjam in their outfield. And after watching Rowand play defense last season, scouts were telling me they felt Randy Winn was actually a better center fielder. Shifting Winn to center finally would give Nate Schierholtz a chance to play every day in right field. But then you’re dealing with a lineup that starts to get awfully left-handed, so a Rowand trade would only make sense if the return is substantial and the Giants can find another right-handed hitter.

If the Giants dangle Rowand, they’ll do it with the utmost secrecy. That’s understandable. They anointed Rowand a clubhouse leader when they signed him to a five-year, $60 million contract last winter. What if trade talk surfaces and a deal doesn’t get completed? It’d make for a pretty awkward situation. (Oh, and one more barrier: He’s got a full no-trade provision in ’08 and limited protection thereafter.)

–No, I haven’t thrown out a good Matt Cain rumor yet. Haven’t heard any good ones. But rest assured, his name will come up. If I had to guess, I’d say it’s 75-25 that he remains a Giant.

Andrew Baggarly

Andrew Baggarly has documented the most eventful era in San Francisco Giants baseball history, having covered the team since 2004 for th​ree major media outlets including the San Jose Mercury News and the Oakland Tribune​. This is his 20th season as a baseball writer.
​Baggarly is the author of the bestselling book, A Band of Misfits: Tales of the 2010 San Francisco Giants, and the newly published Giant Splash: Bondsian Blasts, World Series Parades and Other Thrilling Moments By the Bay. Baggarly’s other notable life accomplishments include running as the Bratwurst in the Milwaukee Sausage Race and becoming a three-time Jeopardy! champion.

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49 Comments

Rowand’s act ran alittle thin at the end of the year. Send him back to the White Sox for Linebrink (setup) and Konerko (1B). Sign Furcal, move Burris to 2B (solid d up the middle) Play Frandsen at 3B. Trade Molina and Sanchez to Detroit for Ordonez.

You’re idea about moving Rowand is a good one … I’d love to see and outfield of Lewis, Winn and Nate. I’d also consider moving Molina under the right circumstances … maybe getting back a big bat like 1B/3B Davis from Texas. Pablo could then take the C position.

It makes us competitive. It still starts 4 players with 2 years or less experience and bridges the gap at catcher to Posey. When Posey is ready Sandoval goes back to first. Konerko has two years on his deal. So does Ordonez.

I love, love, love Furcal… for a 2-year deal. Just can’t justify going further with the long list of injuries he’s had. I know, we won’t get him for that. Maybe we can just drive the price up so the Dodgers don’t either.
Glad to hear that “Pat the Bat” won’t likely be a Giant. I’m not sure why – though it probably has to do with watching him botch ball after ball in the OF – but I do not want him to be the bat we acquire. J-Roll, on the other hand… yeah, but then we still need a BIG hitter.

Burrell would be a good signing if he was slotted to play 1b. Do we really need more athleticism there? Of course not.

I don’t like that keeping Matt Cain is a 75% possibility. I’d prefer to hear a number in the mid to high 90 percentile on that issue.

Giving Furcal 4 years would be a mistake. He just turned 31 and has missed substantial amount of time over the last 2 seasons. Defensively, he’s also slipped. Why not just bring Omar back to play backup SS in case Burriss can’t handle the gig?

Rowand absolutely needs to be traded. After another crap year like the one he just had, his trade value will be next to nothing. His contract isn’t overly horrible, but it obviously was a huge mistake signing.

The Giants need to trade Molina while they can still get good value for him. So what if the catcher position sucks in 2009? The team will still suck anyway. Pablo can handle it.

The Giants should also consider trading Brian Wilson and Fred Lewis. Those players can bring back real value and deepen our system. Lewis is a bit old to just have finished his first full season as a big leaguer and is never gonna be a star. With Wilson – you can find closers anywhere and teams will overpay for one with lotsa saves.

I keep hearing rumors, but not one involves a THIRD BASEMAN! I mean really? Really? Am I the only one that thinks Frandsen is NOT a third baseman? He can hit 280 with about 8 homers. Nice for a second baseman….

Perhaps Sandoval can be given a shot at 3rd, and Ishikawa a shot at first. if not, can schierholtz play first? He seems a more steady hitter than Bowker. I would like to see the young giants given one more season to develop in the bigs. On the other hand I would not mind to see what we could get for Rowand. Despite Rowands attitude, and hard play, he was Pedro Feliz at the plate with less power. One RBI in September, with a large number of RBI opportunities. One of the most pathetic Septembers I have seen. If the giants had been in the playoff hunt, Rowand’s ineptitude would have been magnified to the point of the ire tossed at Armando Benitez.

I am not sold on Manny Burriss either offensively or defensively at SS. He is the most likely rookie to flop, although I like him and really hope he doesn’t. He is still very raw. Furcal does indeed make sense.

Molina should definitely be traded. Sandoval should stay at C and should not be moved to 1st or 3rd except to get his bat in the lineup when he needs a break from catching.

Trading Rowand would be a good move as well. His skills do not match our lineup in terms of having protection for him or in terms of our park (range). Winn should be traded if Rowand can’t be moved to save $$$ and give the much more affordable Schierholtz a shot in RF with Bowker/Velez as his backup. Plus isn’t Roberts signed through 2009?

1B/3B are black holes and I hope the Giants dip into the free agent market or pull a blockbuster trade. They need to “go big” (Texiera or equivalent) or stay home (stay home = use Ishikawa/Bowker/other platoon player at 1B and Frannie perhaps at 3B or they might even try to rush Gillaspie, who should definitely get a spring invite given the Giants total ineptitude at 3B).

I with nostocks – Pat Burrell at 1B would solve a couple of problems at once. And divesting ourselves of Rowand would get Nate into RF, and Burrell would replace Rowand’s RH bat. And I agree that four years of Furcal is much less desirable than four years of Burriss/Frandsen/whomever at SS.

I also agree about trading Molina – a nice guy, he’s been great for our team, but he won’t be a part of the next Really Good Giants Team, and since his trade value now is hypothetically high this should be the time we look for a trade partner.

I would also be okay trading Lewis. I don’t think we yet have quite enough pitching depth to trade Wilson; but I’m not philosophically opposed to doing so, just practically.

About Cain, Shea had this to say today: Asked if Cain is untouchable, Sabean said, “Yes. Clubs know that. That hasn’t necessarily discouraged clubs from inquiring or making suggestions of offers. But we don’t see anything out there that gives us a net gain by losing him.”

I think Sabean knows what he got with Cain. The Giants could have really used what Cain could have gotten us during the “Win with Bonds” era from 2002-2007, particularly a young hitter to protect/complement Bonds, but Sabean did not trade him, he held onto him.

Fans have this irrational fear borne out of “The-Trade-That-Must-Not-Be-Named” with the Twinkies, but Sabean has not traded away any young prospect that has come back to haunt us otherwise in any great way other than Nathan. Meanwhile the vast majority of his other trades were either in our favor or about even for what we gave up.

That trade has sullied Sabean’s reputation greatly but I’ve wondered for a while if it should. It would be no question in my mind that Sabean was at fault for this – he is the GM after all – except that Magowan a few years later stated that had the trade been brought to him, he would not have done it.

Now, one would think that Sabean would know when to run things by Magowan. Plus Magowan didn’t explicitly say it was Sabean, just that it wasn’t run by him.

Then another key piece of info created more doubt in my mind. Colletti has long praised Sabean for allowing him and others to do GM-type things on their own, that they are not siloed. He appears to have instituted that in LA too. He recently mentioned in talk with someone who has harshly criticized him that many of the trades the critic hates were not his deals, that others within the player development organization did them.

So did Sabean do that Twins deal? Or did one of his lieutenants do that? That is something I would like to see from a great Bay Area baseball sports writer (hint hint).

I agree with obsessivegiantscompulsive’s assessment on Sabean’s perhaps undeserved reputation for trading away young talent. But, Sabean hasn’t pulled in stellar drafts (except for relatively recent pitching) and he allocates way too much money for overpriced, veteran free agents in the twilight of their careers. This leads to old, experienced teams on their last legs.

I think that’s why Giants fans are so worried about trading more young talent, since we haven’t had much.

Honestly, it would kill me if Cain were traded. And could you imagine the heartbreak if Lincecum were traded last year?

Bring Burrell back and let him play 1B for 3-4 yrs. The guy’s a stud and local legend! OR Dunn
Also, let’s trade Cain for Holliday, done deal! Are you telling me that Holliday isn’t a net gain playing 150+ games, with top ten offensive numbers in the league?!
Agreed let’s trade Rowand to the Sox or Yanks and move Winn back to CF. Furcal would be a huge boost as well.
How About:
Furcal SS
Winn CF
Lewis LF
Holliday RF
Burrell/Dunn 1B
Sandoval 3B
Molina C
Burriss 2B

Furcal? Really? If the Giants can sign him and Crede they better get an extra surgeon and chiropracter. Unless they come cheap I wouldn’t take anyone with a history of back problems. Anyone who’s thrown out their back once will surely do it again.
This is the first I’ve heard about Rowand. Something in the outfield has to change. Imagine how pissed you would be if you were Schierholz and you didn’t make the team again.

If the Giants want to get younger they could talk the Rangers about Hank Blalock to replace Aurilia at 1B Blaock is 27 coming off surgery and no longer play 3rd but would do fine at 1st. The guy has 40 HR power if (BIG IF) he can stay healthy. I bet he could be obtained for decent relief pitcher or innings eating starter with an ERA under 5.00

Trade Lewis and Sanchez to the Rockies for Matt Holiday. Do not trade Cain or Wilson. Sign a couple of setup guys to bolster the pen. I would give Brad Penney and Furcal a look or sign but with incentives and not 4 years given their history.

Now let’s not start this again think before written let me explain.1-Burrell I like him as a player 5 years ago not now slow,can’t play of.2-Furcal I actually love this player especally when he was playing for ATL. but now why are you going to sign him for 3+ years he missed alot of games lst year in the playoffs just average .Trade Rowland,Winn if theres any takers which they probley aren’t.(Yes)Orando Hudson (NO) Dunn

The good news is the albatross Salaries of Vizquel & Aurilla are now off the books; Thank you for the Club house presence you guys brought – it is time for the Giants to move in a younger direction however. ($9.5 mil coming off the books)

Molina & Rowand are really the only tradable players who have large contracts. However I like what they bring to the club house so I’m fine w/ them sticking around – So only in a good trade would they be worth giving up. Those to salaries together is upwards of $16Mil/yr

Winn has value, but not at that price tag. (>$8Mil/yr)

That leaves Roberts & Zito w/ the albatross contracts who are “dead weight” (>$21mil between the two of them).

Unless the Giants are signing cornerstone pieces, Like M. Texera for 1st base – I really don’t see signing any free agents this season as a good idea. Let this these young player play together another season, use those early round picks wisely (Posey & Gilespie has me excited to see them in a Giants Uniform) and maybe in a few years marquee free agents will actually WANT to come to the Giants for a chance to win. Because anybody the Giants get now, they will be overpaying.

The other option is to wait until the FA period is coming to a close and players start getting desparate to come to find teams to play for and the Giants can get a better deal for these players and potentially use these players as trade bait in a few years. The emphsis on these players would be solid utility players w/ good locker room presence to help the youngsters. The Key – DON’T OVER PAY NOW!

What I would do to strengthen our lineup
-Trade Rowand and Molina
-Move Winn to CF, Schierholtz in RF, Lewis LF
-Sign Burrell to play 1B
-Trade for Adrian Beltre. He’s the best defensive 3B in the league and I think he’d have a monster year since he’d be out of Safeco(RH’ers nightmare) and in a contract year(Net us draft picks when he leaves).
-Maybe sign Orlando Hudson or aquire a 2B through trade
A little vague but that’s all I got for now
Good defensive team + decent offensively

The Nathan trade seemed rushed to me. Curiously, more than once I have heard it justified as “Nathan was done here.” Why? It goes back to Nathan’s last 2 appearances for the Giants (vs Marlins, NLDS). In Game 2 he came in with a 5-4 lead in the 6th and got rocked. In Game 3 he issued a 4-pitch walk to his one batter (Luis Castillo) and was yanked by a disgusted Felipe Alou. And that was it. It has always felt like Nathan was scapegoated for the failure of the 100-win team to advance, and the FO turned on him and shipped him out within weeks. If that trade eluded Magowan’s knowledge and wasn’t even Sabean’s handiwork, maybe someone in the FO was eager to take care of the “problem,” thinking it would please the bosses (including Felipe). Deal done, problem solved — except the problem became a perennial All-Star.

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